A single, devastating California fire season wiped out years of efforts to cut emissions and reverse global warming, and sparked deadly wildfires across the western states.
At least 15,000 people were evacuated, and more than 200 died. That’s the worst fire season in California state history, and the equivalent of burning more than 100,000 acres a day, or the entire city of Los Angeles for a year.
The fires, which broke out earlier on Thursday and are now threatening more than 21 million acres, mark the largest annual loss of life and property in a single season for the state since World War II. As devastating as the fires are, they’re arguably even more significant than such disasters as the 1918 influenza pandemic or the Chernobyl nuclear disaster because they directly affect many of the people and organizations facing the most serious ramifications of climate change.
California, like many other nations on Earth, has made efforts to reduce emissions, invest in clean technologies and try to slow the pace of climate change through policies and regulations.
Many of these efforts have been met with fierce resistance from powerful constituencies that don’t want the state to act on climate change.
So in this series of stories, we focus on how activists, politicians and business leaders are doing what they can to change the climate — and what we can do about it.
Here’s what we found:
State by state highlights the threat posed by climate change
This map shows the number of people killed in wildfires across different states, as well as how much firefighting costs. It’s based on a comprehensive dataset compiled by the Los Angeles Times.
California
This map shows the number of people killed in wildfires across different states, as well as how much firefighting costs. It’s based on a comprehensive dataset compiled by the Los Angeles Times.
“The climate crisis is the defining issue we face and it is going to transform our economy, our society and our lives,” Gov. Jerry Brown said in June. “We can change this — we can make a difference.” (Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)
California
This map shows the number of people killed in wildfires across different states, as well as how much firefighting costs. It’s based on a comprehensive dataset compiled by the Los Angeles Times.
California saw some of the largest fire coverage and losses among the states in 2017. But it was not considered a